Three-time
WWE heavyweight champion Mick Foley together with
award-winning Australian comedian Brendon Burns, will
visit Australia soil in February 2013 for a first
ever Australian tour with their brand new double-handed
stand-up comedy show Good God Almighty!.

Paul
Stanley (The Starchild) has confirmed Kiss will tour
Australia in January.

Last
month Tommy Lee tweeted that Kiss and Motley Crue
would be touring Australia in January, 2013 and today
Paul Stanley confirmed the tour again on the David
Letterman show.

Stanley
advised Kiss were about to do a tour of South America
and will then head to Australia.

Kiss
Army Australia fans immediately jumped on forums to
discuss the upcoming tour.

Kiss
Monster was released down under in Australia
last week and is set to debut this Sunday on the ARIA
chart. It is the 20th studio album for the band and
their first album since Sonic Boom in
2009.

WrestleMania (Australian style) returned to Sydney
on Friday night and the show did not disappoint.

Pro
wrestling fans young and old got their fix of WWE
grapplers.

The
WWE marketing and media machine can be attributed
to what looked to be a 90 percent full Allphones Arena
- making it a crowd of approximately 15,000. It's
unclear how much of the crowd was papered (unpaid),
but the smart money says it was fans who parted with
their hard earned money.

A
mixed crowd of both hardcore fans, casual fans and
families, who were pretty vocal and hyped up for the
show.

The
show commenced with Brodus Clay VS Jack Swagger. Naomi
was with Brodus, no Cameron. Swagger got some good
heat, but Brodus got his hand raised quick. Entertaining
and fun, but not a classic wrestling match - nor was
it supposed to be. Kids just love Clay.

Next
was the divas (ladies) match. WWE Divas Champion Layla
defeated Rosa Mendes. We appreciated the effort of
the ladies but its safe to say the WWE should raise
the bar in the Diva's division. Maybe bring in a few
Japanese lady pro wrestlers as well as snatch some
of TNA Wrestling's best also. WWE have so much TV
time to fill up, so ramp up the Diva's for the female
and male fans in the WWE Universe.

WWE
Tag Team Champions R-Truth and Kingston beat Primo
and Epico in a solid match. R-Truth was on fire, both
with in-ring skills and the mic, and 'Little Jimmy'
was over big time with young and old.

The
Miz defeated Alex Riley to retain the Intercontinental
Championship. The Miz got strong heat. Nice mic work
telling everyone he wasn't "awful", but
"awesome". AR was surprisingly over. Maybe
because he's a pretty strong worker and Australian
fans are not overexposed to the WWE product (with
live shows), like rather spoilt American fans. Lot's
of Wooooo's! (for the chops), respecting Ric Flair,
who most fans want to see return to his rightful home
- WWE.

Zack
Ryder defeated Tensai. Zack Ryder got a huge pop and
Tensai got pretty decent heat and reactions. At least
Tensai looks like a pro wrestling "monster"
- he has the look and size, and moves well for a big
man. Younger fans seem to be scared of Tensai and
went nuts when Ryder got the win.

Santino
defeated David Otunga. Decent heat for Otunga. Santino
is over in Australia, but not as much as he is in
the U.S. Keep WWE belts off both these guys... they
don't need them. They worked the crowd fairly well
and Santino is funny, but this was not a classic wrestling
match - and it was never expected to be. Passable
- just.

CM
Punk defeated Daniel Bryan to retain the WWE Championship
in an awesome match which went for almost 30 minutes.
Stalling by both at first, but the crowd was pretty
into it. Established characters can stall for ages
with little fan backlash - the way the late Randy
"Macho Man" Randy Savage and living legends
Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair used to do. CM Punk worked
as a face and was over big time. "Yes" chant
all throughout the match as well. Tons of fan signs
for both and lots of fans bought their t-shirts.

John
Cena defeated The Big Show and John Laurinaitis in
the main event. Decent match for these guys. After
the match Laurinaitis attacked Cena with a chair,
but Cena turned around and hit him with an attitude
adjustment to finish the show.

Overall
strong show - especially for an Australian WWE show,
which were mixed in the past. We're giving it 8 out
of 10 and it was value for money.

Strongest
pops:

John
Cena
CM Punk
Zack Ryder

Most
heat:

The
Miz
The Big Show
Jack Swagger

Match
Of The Show:

C.M
Punk VS Daniel Brian

Room
for improvement: More strong WWE Divas, bring back
Ric Flair urgently (1000s of fans did the Woooooo!),
bring Ziggler and Randy Orton to the next Australian
show, have 2 top line NXT talents on the next down
under show. It would be nice to see Ric Flair and
Hulk Hogan back with the WWE. Strong rumours Flair
will be back within a month or two, so hopefully he
makes the next Australian tour. Wooooo!

Australia
To Get Sports Stadiums Branded By Gambling and Gaming
Companies, by Greg Tingle - 15th January 2011

G'day
punters, journos, high rollers, sports news, entertainment
news junkies, politicians, insiders, outsiders...
one and all. Today we probe the situation where a
number of Australian sports grounds could soon be
named after gaming and gambling companies. How do
like the sound of Betfair Stadium, Centrebet Park
and PartyGaming Cricket Ground? Don't laugh, this
type of scenario is on the cards, with local gaming
brands likely the first to pounce, followed by international
powerhouses. Media Man http://www.mediamanint.com
and Gambling911 with another ground breaking news
report from the land of world class casino, media
companies and sports arenas...

Australia
Will Get Gambling Arenas; Aussie Aussie Aussie; Oi
Oi Oi...

With
Australia being in the world's top 10 gambling nations,
it shouldn't shock or surprise that we're tipped to
soon have a number of sporting arenas and grounds
named after gambling and gaming companies, both national
and international brands. Yep, money will talk where
B.S sometimes walks.

James
Packer's Betfair is understood to build upon their
Betfair Park branding, Europe's PartyGaming is keen,
and currently Centrebet looks to be leading the charge,
with many insiders saying its a case of when, not
if, for the household name brand.

Centrebet
already has significant branding, thanks in part to
a swag of TV and online adverts, plus who can forget
the Centrebet branded part of Network Nine's 'The
Footy Show'.

The
gambling companies already have a number of key targets,
and many cash strapped and / or cash handy NRL team
and home grounds are near the top of the hit list.

For
instance NRL team, The Penrith Panthers, are seriously
considering having their home stadium named Centrebet
Stadium. We kid you not punters.

If
the deal goes through, they will make history becoming
the first major Australian sporting team to snatch
a betting firm as the naming-rights partner for a
playing venue.

Horse
Racing already has some naming rights deals with tracks
and in the mix such as Betfair Park and then you have
races named after gambling brands such as the Lasseters
Cup, Lasseters known for its hotel - casino up in
Australia's top end.

The
forecast Betfair deal comes as a police continue to
probe the NRL gambling scandal that from last season
following a number of "irregular" wagers
was picked up in the Canterbury Bulldogs VS North
Queensland Cowboys match up.

The
Panthers, Centrebet and a swag of gambling companies,
have rather pissed off the gambling and gaming haters,
who continues to get organised into lobby groups.

A
Media Man
spokesperson such "Many people in and out of
news media and gaming, the general public, are starting
to get really pissed off at the gaming, gambling and
sports betting haters. The bible bashers. Who do they
think they are trying to push their beliefs onto others.
Many Australians just love a punt, and that's the
way it is. Some of the gaming haters have strong ties
to church groups and there appears to be some sort
of brainwashing system going on. They keep discussing
the 'evils of gambling'. I mean, seriously, come on.
People know not to over-do it on on the slots, sports
events, poker and the like, but the haters keep trying
to be the thought police. Gambling companies in Australia
have a very high focus on responsible gambling with
warnings everywhere. It's great to see the gambling
and gaming industry place so much focus on safe better.
The sports stadiums will be great for business, ,
but no one is forcing anyone to have a bet. It's a
personal decision, as it always has been. 2011 is
going to be a very exciting year for punters, especially
those who like to have a bet of sports matches, and
television and online website portals and brands will
bring it all together nicely".

Back
to the first prime target #1...The modest 22,500-capacity
sports ground, owned by Penrith City Council, was
in a past life known as CUA Stadium. What's up is
that the club's contract with the Brisbane financial
services company has expired, and negotiations between
Panthers, the footy club and Centrebet have been taking
place, even prior to Christmas about renaming the
stadium. Other clubs and stadiums have also caught
the buzz and are opening chequebooks and crunching
the numbers.

The
first of its kind business agreement between the club
and Centrebet is just about a done deal, and ink is
expecting to try on contracts sooner rather than later,
possibly within a fortnight. An exciting, if not controversial
type of announcement is fully expected by the Panthers
in the coming week. Sports and gambling commentators
are quick to point out that Penrith already has ties
to Centrebet, the gambling brand being lit up across
the top of the video screen at the stadium. This kind
of exposure has also been very good for their mobile
- hand held device sector.

Anti-gambling
campaigner Senator Nick Xenophon is especially unhappy
with the development of the gambling branded sports
stadiums in Australia. He went on recent with:

"How
can a footy code currently embroiled in a betting
scandal possibly allow a stadium to be named after
a betting agency? There was a time when rugby league
was all about the game. Now it's all about the odds,
and that is ruining the game".

Over
the last couple of years the NRL (and AFL) has watered
down its laws and regulations relating to clubs' deals
and partnerships with gambling - sports betting firms,
allowing them to be branded on footy jerseys for a
virgin time. Cronulla Sharks have sponsor PokerStars
(.net) on their jersey sleeves while cashed up Manly
Sea Eagles are tipped to have Centrebet's signage
on the back of their jerseys this season after a widely
reported $1 million plus deal with the Northern Territory
based betting outfit announced just before Christmas.
Yep, it looks like a few clubs and stadiums will be
getting their Christmas presents and will have lots
to celebrate, while the gambling haters will be spewing
in Grinch like fashion.

The
National Rugby League of course also has corporate
ties with TAB Sportsbet, and is understood to snatch
a 5% "product fee" via the company's rugby
league betting profit.

NRL
spokesman John Brady advised he would not comment
on individual clubs' sponsorship agreements but maintained
there was no concern about the prospect of gambling
agencies assuming naming rights for the game's venues,
at least from his take on the situation.

"It's
an area that was relaxed last year. As such there
are a number of betting sponsorships that are available
to clubs in terms of jerseys and other opportunities,"
Brady said.

He
advised any and all betting firms involved with the
NRL via sponsorship of clubs were made to sign "integrity
agreements" to ensure transparency.

The
majority of NRL clubs now have corporate deals with
betting agencies. Centrebet sponsors five teams: Penrith,
Manly, Parramatta, St George Illawarra and North Queensland.
"Comon' Betfair and PartyGaming, pull you're
finger out", a Media Man sports journalist was
overheard shouting when he found out the news of Centrebet's
ongoing infiltration of the sport.

Penrith's
stadium pending name change has been intertwined we
understand by some to the financial problems that
have hit the football club's parent body, Panthers
Group.

The
licensed club is no longer quite the licence to print
money as it was in the 90s Some audited figures about
to do public by the conclusion of the month are expected
to show black and white confirmation of a Murdoch
- News Limited news story of last February that said
Panthers were due to report a rather embarrassing
net loss of $11 million bucks.

Panthers
are not afraid to speak on the record about their
on and off field performance, which has seen better
days.

Ric
Simpson, Panthers Group chief exec since last July,
said a culture change and "renewal of process"
across Panthers clubs had improved their situation.
Analysts question that was a PR line or absolute truth.
Mind you, we don't blame club for trying to focus
on positives. "We're probably looking at reducing
that loss by somewhere in the order of $8-$9 million,"
Simpson said.

A
Media Man
spokesperson said "At this stage of the gaming
the overseas trend of seeing sports groups and football
teams pick up sponsorship and strong branding for
gambling, gaming... sports betting companies looks
to be moving full speed ahead down under in Australia.
Centrebet might become the Bwin of Australia. PartyGaming
is said to be currently crunching numbers to see if
an Australian sports ground deal is viable. They already
have a Aussie Millions former champion sponsored by
their poker brand and a couple of Aussie poker players
signed up, so anything is possible. James Packer's
Betfair, a direct competitor of Centrebet is not likely
to take the situation lying down either. Betfair is
50% Packer owned and wants to keep building their
sports betting brand, as well as opening up many online
casino games in Australia, poker and more. Could an
Australian sports stadium ever be known as PartyGaming
stadium or WPT Stadium? Not overnight, but never say
never, stranger things have happened. It's all going
to add a lot of money into the game and business of
sport and entertainment, and already our firm is starting
to experience some positive spin off benefits. It's
all very exciting and profitable".

Gaming, gambling and iGaming fans, have we got some
news hot of the press for you. Our bat phone has been
running hot hot hot!

For
the past few months Media
Man and Gambling911 have been keeping you updated
on all sorts of exciting developments at Richard Branson's
Virgin Group, namely Virgin
Casino, Virgin Games, Virgin Poker, Virgin Bingo,
and offshoot, AWOMO (A World Of My Own), with a GDI
(Game Domain International) tie in. Last week Branson's
Virgin Racing also sponsored Full
Tilt Poker.

Richard
Branson will unleash the Virgin return to the video
gaming sector at the E3 event in Los Angeles, USA,
in June.

We
understand that a hard launch is being orchestrated,
with Sir Branson, the one and only, in attendance.
Can't wait to see what the man and his army wear and
what sorts of stunts they have up their sleeve, but
Branson isn't usually one to disappoint.

Virgin
was one of the most successful brands to have ever
competed in the video gaming industry, albeit over
a decade ago, but 2010 is looking to be a record breaking
year for the brands re birth, pardon the pun.

RB
was one of the first pioneers - visionaries to see
the massive potential of computer software as a global
Virgin entertainment business, establishing Virgin
Games in downtown London circa 1984. He later moved
the core of the operation to Guernsey which has lower
overheads and is understood to be more igaming industry
friendly!

A
Bit Of History

The
company acquired Mastertronic and rolled Sega's Master
System across the European region.

Sega
Europe continued to power along, then Virgin Interactive
Entertainment.

In
1994 it lost its Virginity, being acquired by Blockbuster
for a cool $250 million, then was purchased by media
powerhouse Viacom (which owns about half the media
world).

Virgin
Interactive Entertainment reached its financial global
revenue peak in 1997, bringing home the bacon to the
tune of $210 million.

Since
2004 Virgin Games has been V's staple gaming brand,
other gaming ventures basically on ice... until now!

The
new gaming "start up" (of sorts), expected
to go public at E3 will see Virgin pro actively exploring
partnerships with publishers, content owners, and
you get the idea. The timing looks to be right with
'Avatar' type technologies all the rage, movies being
adapted to games in record time, and the availability
of broadband internet at reasonable prices.

Internet,
console formats and more will see the big V feature
red hot games, both classics and newbies. Think Space
Invaders to Cleo to Avatar, and their cousins.

Gamers
are calling for interactive slot games, tournaments,
TV and movie brands, and more casino and poker type
experiences, in addition to what they already enjoy.

Insiders
expect some sort of firm announcement from Virgin
at the expo or soon after re return to the mainstream
games market.

Punters,
fire up the consoles...Xbox Live, PlayStation Network,
multi-player PC gaming and more is just around the
corner from the man who brought you Virgin Records,
V Festival and Virgin Galactic... be excited... we
sure as hell are.

At
the moment Americans and Australians are not able
to play casino, poker or bingo games at Virgin, however
with the expansion of Virgin
Games, and the push to clear up any gray areas
in regions such as the U.S and down under in Australia,
the whole suite of Virgin Games may go global sooner
rather than later.

Competitors
of sorts, PartyGaming - including PartyCasino
and poker brands, Betfair
and Centrebet,
are all said to be watching this space closely. Australia's
Fairfax Media, publisher of The Sydney Morning Herald
and News Limited, publisher of The Daily Telegraph
and The Australian, are also following for both potential
deal opportunities and in a journalistic (journalism)
capacity. Foxtel has only just got wind of the news,
putting out its own gaming related press release less
than 24 hours before this publication.

Yep,
gamers and igamers... Tomb Raider, Rome Total War,
Cleopatra, Flatout, WarHammer Mark Of Chaos, Pain
Killer: Black Edition, maybe even Dan Dare and who
knows what surprises will be jumping out of your computer
once Team Branson turns on the turbo and blasts off
Virgin Galactic style. TNA Wrestling, Hulk Hogan,
Ric Flair, Bill Goldberg, UFC, NASCAR, F1 and Bull
Run are all understood to also want to talk turkey
and potential deals with Branson and 'V'.

Virgin
Games, AWOMO (A World Of My Own), bring in on... faster
than you can say Virgin Racing Inks Deal With Full
Tilt Poker! Read about the life and times of Branson
and his world of planes, trains and automobiles (and
spaceships) on the Media Man International website
portal. Hours of entertainment for free.

Virgin
remains one of dozens of corporate tech and communications
giants seeking clarity on Australian censorship laws,
both online and offline.

*The
writer is has conducted business with a number of
arms of the Virgin Group and is a pro active member
of Virgin Unite

UFC®
114 OFFICIALLY SOLD OUT - 27TH MAY 2010

Las
Vegas, NV (USA)  UFC announced today that tickets
for UFC 114: Rampage vs. Evans at MGM Grand Garden
Arena in Las Vegas, Nev. are officially sold out.
The war of words between former UFC light heavyweight
champions Quinton Rampage Jackson and
Suga Rashad Evans has created one of the
fiercest rivalries in the history of the sport. Its
also created one of the hottest tickets in Sin City.

Tickets
are still available for the closed circuit telecast
of UFC 114: Rampage vs. Evans to be held at MGM Grand
Conference Center. Tickets for the closed circuit
telecast are available at all Las Vegas Ticketmaster
locations (select Smiths Food and Drug Centers
and Ritmo Latino) and at any MGM Grand box office
outlet. To charge by phone with a major credit card,
call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Tickets also
are available for purchase at UFC.com, www.mgmgrand.com
or www.ticketmaster.com.

UFC
114: Rampage vs. Evans will also be available live
on Pay-Per-View on iN DEMAND, DIRECTV, DISH Network,
TVN, BellTV, Shaw Communications and Viewers
Choice Canada for a suggested retail price of $44.95
for standard definition or high-definition broadcasts
(where available).

For
more information, or current UFC fight news, visit
UFC.com, UK.UFC.com, GERMANY.UFC.com, UFCJapan.jp
or UFCEspanol.com. All bouts live and subject to change.

Ultimate
Fighting Championship® - www.ufc.com
Owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, and headquartered
in Las Vegas, Nev., UFC® produces over twelve
UFC live Pay-Per-View events annually and 30 live
arena events around the world. UFC programming is
distributed in the United States on Viacom, Inc.s
Spike TV and on Comcast, Inc.s Versus network.
UFC content is distributed commercially through Joe
Hand Promotions in the U.S. and Canadastar in Canada.
Globally, UFC programming is broadcast in over 130
countries, territories and jurisdictions, reaching
430 million homes worldwide, in 20 different languages.
Ancillary businesses now include UFC.com with over
5 million unique visitors per month, the best-selling
UFC Undisputed videogame franchise distributed
by THQ, UFC Gym, UFC Fight Club affinity program,
UFC Fan Expo festivals, branded apparel, trading
cards, articulated action figures and other media
including best-selling DVDs and a U.S. bimonthly magazine.

Ultimate
Fighting Championship®, Ultimate Fighting®,
UFC®, The Ultimate Fighter®, Submission®,
As Real As It Gets®, Zuffa®, The Octagon
and the eight-sided competition mat and cage design
are registered trademarks, registered service marks,
trademarks, trade dress and/or service marks owned
exclusively by Zuffa, LLC and licensed to its affiliated
entities and other licensees in the United States
and other jurisdictions. All other marks referenced
herein may be the property of Zuffa, LLC, its affiliates
or other respective owners.

Australia
is home to some of the best events and live entertainment
in the world. We have compiled a list of some of the
"can't miss" attractions. Note, this list
is not complete by any means, namely because there
are so many events, however, it's a useful guide.
For additional event and live entertainment listings,
we recommend Google,
the newspapers, and personal recommendation.